NFL To NFLPA: We Won't Wait For Your Investigation Into Saints' Bounty Scandal

NFLPA asked NFL to delay any discipline until it could conduct its own investigation

The NFL in a letter to the NFLPA Wednesday stated that the league would “neither facilitate the union's investigation into the bounty scandal involving the New Orleans Saints, nor delay discipline against players, coaches and management allegedly involved in the pay-for-performance program that took place the past three seasons,” according to Jim Trotter of SI.com. NFLPA officials contend that they “didn't learn of the investigation until shortly before the results were announced to the public, at which point they formally asked that the league help arrange interviews with current and former team officials and coaches, and delay any discipline until it could conduct its own investigation.” NFL Exec VP/Labor & General Counsel Jeff Pash in the letter said that “team officials and coaches, current and former, were free to speak with union investigators, but that the league ‘will neither compel them to do so, nor direct them to refrain from doing so.’" One union source said that the league's “unwillingness to compel its employees to make themselves available was, for all practical purposes, a roadblock in the union's investigation” (SI.com, 3/16). The NFL “apparently won't wait for the NFLPA to investigate before handing out its punishments against the Saints -- which could come at any time in the coming days or weeks” (NOLA.com, 3/15).